Chris: Great column. What are your thoughts on Tuomo Ruutu for the remainder of the season? He seems to be red-hot lately and has been doing well playing alongside Daze and Arnason, but do you think he can continue at this pace for the rest of the year?Thanks, Richard

Absolutely. This kid is a stud and I've been pushing him hard for several weeks in my various columns. Some guys are treat of the week players, but his game is for real. Keep in mind that even the best players will cool off at some point, but Ruutu is as good a bet as anyone on your free agent list right now.

Hi Chris -- am in a bit of a bind for the last 10 games of the season. My left wingers have taken a turn for the worse... at present I have Tanguay (now hurt) and Shane Doan (who hasn't been productive for the last 10 plus games -- ever since Nagy went down). Left wingers available include Nedved, Savage, Morrow, Luc Robitaille, Modin, Frolov and Ray Whitney -- I am leaning towards Savage on the off chance that he and Weight start firing though Kvasha or Drury could also be had. Sorry for the lengthy list, but I had just made it to the top of the pool only to see things start to crumble! Also, Derek Morris or Liles -- I am holding on to Morris thinking Phoenix will eventually get more than one goal a game.... thanks for your input!!!Mark

Go for Nedved and Liles. Nedved has looked good in Edmonton colors and Liles has been on fire.

Hey Chris, the 4th place team (I'm 3rd), for some reason or other, dropped Kariya. My LWs are Zetterberg, Smyth, and Sanderson. I was leaning towards dropping Sanderson, but I need a second opinion. Also, drop Jackman for Liles? It's a basic Yahoo! H2H, 2nd week of playoffs...Thanks!Michael

All three guys are pretty close in value. Sanderson has looked good since the trade; Smyth and the Oil have been doing well and Zetterberg is also hot. Kariya is on the top line for now with Tanguay out, so you should certainly grab him. I guess I'd drop either Sanderson or Smyth.

Jackman and Liles are a push -- both guys doing really well.

You really can't lose with any of those players at this point.

With Bertuzzi out, I quickly grabbed Dvorak. These are the others who are also available. Who would you choose? (g,a,pp, shp, gw) as THE replacement. And once I got your attention, I'd like to have your opinion on a second and third choice.Dvorak
Yashin
Sanderson
Perreault (now playing with Koivu)
Conroy
Samsonov
Morozov
Eratthanks again Chris

It depends on which categories you need to gain in right now. Conroy is great for assists and would be my first choice overall. Morozov, Sanderson, Perreault and Dvorak are all slightly below Conroy for me -- in that order.

Hey what's up, thanks for your advice all year. I'm going to run really short on goaltending games played in my rotisserie yahoo league ,I need help in the GAA and Save %. I have Lalime, Turco and Cujo,, I think I need more help in the goalie department. The following are available, Prusek, Burke, Turek, Conklin, Nurminen and Markkanen. there are a bunch of other back ups also available. Of these 6 which 2 are my best bets to pick up?Thank you, Justin Rylak (a.k.a HeD), Naples, Italy

Well, you could grab Prusek to ensure Ottawa's starts. You could also grab both Edmonton goalies instead of Prusek to ensure Edmonton's starts. The Oil has been pretty hot and I don't know if they can make the playoffs, but they're sure giving it a nice run.

Hey Chris,Thanks for all your help. For my greatest regret, I'm only fighting to finish second in my Public Yahoo. It was tough to compete with the likes of Brodeur, Hossa, Hejduk, Kovalchuk, Nash and Sundin, that served my opponent perfectly. So I lost the race this time. However, without your help, I would probably be at the bottom or gave up. So, thanks for turning me into a passionate fantasy hockey player! I'm sure you already have your own list and rankings for the upcoming season (assuming there is NHL in 2005). Because, I'm a first year player, I'm afraid of doing something wrong and miss the correct value of players.Any help and comments would be greatly appreciated.

I'm glad I could be of some help to you this season. Honestly, it's way too early to rank players for next season. Check back here at Slam in September of next year and -- assuming the CBA is worked out -- I'll have pre-season rankings, sleepers, etc that will hopefully give you some help.

Hey Chris -- love the column. I am in a Head-to-Head keeper league and have just been eliminated from the playoffs on a tie-breaker! I was scouring the FA's in our league looking towards next year, and have noticed guys like Mario, Allison, Deadmarsh, etc. out there. Is there any news on these guys? Also, are there any others I should consider that haven't played much or at all (i.e. Barrett Jackman)? My keepers (so far) for next year are Lecavalier, Heatley, Palffy, Gonchar, Berard or Niedermayer, and Brodeur.Thanks in advance, Marty D

Allison and Deadmarsh are going to be huge question marks for the foreseeable future. Maybe that will change later in the summer, but it's too early to say they'll be healthy. Mario will play next year, although he's obviously a huge health risk. I would rather have those three forwards you listed than any of Allison, Deadmarsh or Mario.

And that hurts -- losing on a tie breaker. Ouch.
Have a fantasy hockey question? Drop me a line at chris_nichols@canoemail.com. I do my best to answer all questions within 24 hours, depending on the volume of emails. Please keep the questions short. Your fantasy questions may be answered in our Ask Slam! section.

Which team is your early pick to win the Stanley Cup this season?
Blackhawks
Penguins
Bruins
Kings
Blues
Red Wings
Canucks
Ducks
Another team